How to watch Hostage online and from anywhere — Swedish plane hijack thriller

Scene in Swedish TV thriller Hostage
(Image credit: More 4)

How to watch Hostage online

A plane with 400 passengers has been taken over via remote control. There is a bomb on board and the hijackers demands seem impossible to meet. And if that wasn't enough to pique your interest in Swedish thriller Hostage, the team brought together to resolve it involves a fraught father-son relationship. 

Keep reading, as we explain how to watch Hostage online and from wherever you are in the world.

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Premiere: Friday, August 16
FREE stream: Channel 4 (UK)
Use NordVPN to unblock any stream

Fans of the Walter Presents series of dramas will recognize two of the main characters in Hostage. The team brought together by the Swedish Security Police to make sure the situation does not end in disaster includes ex-cop Fredrika Bergman (Liv Mjönes), now at the Ministry of Justice, and Alex Recht (Jonas Karlsson) her former partner who, although recovering from a breakdown, is also the father of the co-pilot. The characters (played by the same actors) were also in the gripping Stockholm Requiem.

Are the events believable? Even though this is a standalone show, you'd have to ask spy-turned-author Kristina Ohlsson who wrote the series of Recht and Bergman crime novels that created the characters in the first place but, as a former "security policy analyst and advisor" for the Swedish Security Police and the Norwegian Defence Academy, she is probably also in a good place to venture a qualified opinion about the plot of Hostage. If you like your thrillers thrilling then this is for you.

Keep reading as we explain how to watch Hostage online from absolutely anywhere and for free in the UK.

How to watch Hostage free online in the UK

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More4Friday, August 16  9pm BST

The first two episodes of Hostage drop on More4 on Friday, August 16 at 9pm BST with one episode a week after that.

It will also land on the FREE tier of the Channel 4 streaming service after broadcast.

However, for subscribers to the premium tier, which also gets you ad-free access to the platform's huge catalogue of shows, all three episodes are available right now, having been added to the streamer on May 28. If you want early access to this and more Channel 4 shows in the future, it'll cost £3.99 per month or £39.99 per year.

The Channel 4 streaming service is available on your laptop, or via apps for the likes of Android, iOS, PS4, Xbox, Roku and Amazon Fire.

Outside the UK? To access Channel 4 from abroad, you'll need to download a good VPN, as detailed below.

How to watch Hostage from anywhere

How to watch Hostage online from anywhere

For those away from home looking to watch Hostage, you’ll be unable to watch the show like you normally would due to annoying regional restrictions. Luckily, there’s an easy solution.

Downloading a VPN allows you to stream online, no matter where you are. It's a simple bit of software that changes your IP address, meaning that you can access on-demand content or live TV just as if you were at home.

Use a VPN to watch Hostage from anywhere:

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How to watch Hostage around the world

Can I watch Hostage in the US, Canada, Australia or elsewhere?

There's currently no news on when Hostage might air in the US or Canada but it is already available to stream on SBS On Demand in Australia.

In the meantime, UK citizens travelling internationally looking to watch Hostage on More4 via Channel 4 can use a VPN to access the streaming service as they usually would. 

Hostage episode guide

Episode 1 – Fredrika Bergman gets assigned to the investigation of a hijacked plane, whose co-pilot, Erik, turns out to be the son of her former boss, the legendary police investigator Alex Recht.

Episode 2 – In an attempt to get the plane back into Swedish airspace, Alex convinces his son to turn it around without Karim's knowledge. Meanwhile, Fredrika visits Saïd Khelifi, whose release from custody is one of the hijackers' demands.

Episode 3 – Despite his earlier suspicions, Erik asks passenger and aircraft technician Osman to help him; Fredrika's doubts about Said Khelifi's guilt intensify as the events surrounding his arrest seem increasingly strange.

Episode 4 – Erik and Osman desperately try to get into the cockpit without the passengers noticing their distress; Captain Karim Sassi becomes the prime suspect; Alex tries to locate his family; Fredrika's parallel investigation takes increasingly strange turns.

Episode 5 – Eden suspects that the hijackers are counting on the plane to be shot down and pleads with Bruce to get his superiors to reconsider.

Episode 6 – Lydia holds Karim hostage and Alex fails in his attempts to talk her out of it; Fredrika discovers that Adam had two siblings.

Episode 7 – TBC

Episode 8 – TBC

Hostage cast list

Jonas Karlsson as Alex Recht

Liv Mjönes as Fredrika Bergman

Ana Gil de Melo Nascimento as Eden Lundell

Adam Lundgren as Erik Recht

Zardasht Rad as Karim Sassi

Tsahi Halevi as Saïd Khelfi

Gustaf Hammarsten as Greger Fors

Peshang Rad as Osman Yildas

Rita Hjelm as Lydia

What you need to know about Hostage

When is Hostage out?

Hostage drops on More4 (via Channel 4) at 9 pm UK / 5 pm ET / 2 pm PT / 8 am AEST on Friday, August 16. It will be available to stream for FREE on Channel 4 following broadcast.

Was Kristina Ohlsson, the writer of the novel Hostage featuring Recht and Bergman, really a spy?

The book was published in 2012 but before then she had worked as a “security policy analyst and advisor” for the Swedish Security Police, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Stockholm and the Norwegian Defence Academy. She was also a “counter terrorism officer” for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. You do the math.

Disclaimer

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

Bill Borrows

Bill Borrows is an award-winning journalist, feature writer and columnist (Times Magazine/ Guardian/ Telegraph/ Daily Mirror/ Mail On Sunday/ Radio Times), author (The Hurricane: The Turbulent Life and Times of Alex Higgins) and book editor. A frequent contributor on talkSPORT and talkRADIO, his areas of specialisation include sport, history, politics, TV and film. He doesn’t get much free time but does admit to an addiction to true crime podcasts, following Man City home and away, and a weakness for milk chocolate hobnobs.

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